Conventional plumbing systems are wasteful; they waste water and they waste the energy used to heat the water. For example, when a person tests or adjusts the temperature of water dispensed from a faucet, water that is too cold or too hot is generally spilled down the drain and wasted. A utility expended resources to acquire, store, treat, and deliver that water; the building owner paid money to buy and heat that water.
When such wastage occurs throughout a whole building or a whole utility, the losses are significant. Reducing such wastage would decrease expenses for landlords and hoteliers, and would allow utilities to build smaller reservoir, treatment and delivery systems for a given number of customers. In areas where water is scarce, a reduction in wastage might lead to a reduction in rationing. A system for reducing wastage might similarly find advantageous use on planes, boats and recreational vehicles that carry water subject to weight or space limitations.
The fundamental disadvantage in a conventional plumbing system is that it has only two types of pipes: incoming pipes for delivering clean water and outgoing pipes for removing waste water. Clean water dispensed at an incorrect temperature has no place to go except down the drain with the waste water. What is needed is a plumbing system that provides for recirculation of clean water dispensed at the wrong temperature.
The present invention is directed to such a system.